Tag: Kantar

Sydney, Australia – With the impact of the cost-of-living crisis creeping up into the lives of Australians amidst sustainability issues, market research firm Kantar states that brands must show initiative and leadership to inspire behavioural change. In Kantar’s report titled the Kantar Sustainability Sector Index 2023, the firm explores the issues that Australians face, as well as their opinions around it. 

Data from the report mainly suggests that 7 out of 10 Australians cite cost as being prohibitive to actioning real sustainable behaviour change, saying that things better for the society and the environment are more expensive.

Moreover, the study also explored the sustainability issues that Australians are most concerned with, citing mental health, poverty, and climate change as the most prominent issues that they want to see addressed.

To be specific, the cost-of-living crisis is biting hard on Australia’s mental health, which is the sustainability issue that Australians want addressed for the second year in a row. Additionally, 76% of respondents want to live a sustainable lifestyle but only 22% are doing so because they struggle to translate their values into action due to this crisis.

With this in mind however, 6 in10 Australians say that it is hard to tell which products are good or bad ethically or for the environment and over one-third don’t know where to find sustainable or ethical products. Plus, more than half of them want clear certification explaining the environmental or ethical benefits that would influence their purchase.

Notably, climate change also continues to rank highly as both an issue of concern and one that people want addressed as 60% of Australians say they expect to personally feel climate change effects in their lifetime and want real action. They believe it is a responsibility of companies and brands to help solve or tackle climate change and environmental issues, with only 27% thinking that those companies and brands are already taking those actions.

Talking about these findings, Carolyn Reid, head of qualitative at Kantar Australia, said, “A new consumption culture is emerging, and brands must think or rethink how they create value and innovate. Successful brands make people feel empowered to make truly better choices. Brands can enable behaviour change by using the Sustainability Sector Index to identify levers that will prevent or enable change to both design and execute for success.”

“It is imperative to prioritise both the social and environmental issues impacting your brands, products or services – and the lives of the people you seek to meaningfully connect with. It ensures the insights, territories or innovations that you address are ownable and distinctive to your brand, while understanding your brand’s sustainability table stakes. Further, it provides actionable guidelines on how to express your ambitions and actions in the most authentic, impactful, and differentiated way,” she added. 

Meanwhile, Madeleine Andrews and Mathilde Pernot, sustainability leads at Kantar Australia, also commented, “Sustainability isn’t an option for brands anymore but delivers a business imperative and a commercial opportunity. Getting this right is crucial. However, many people feel let down when it comes to sustainability. Acting with bravery and boldness to lead the way in sustainability is a critical imperative for any sector.”

Hong Kong – Global financial services company HSBC and Hong Kong’s flag carrier airline Cathay Pacific leads the list of the strongest brands in the region, according to the latest ranking made by Design Bridge and Partners in partnership with Kantar.

They are then followed by rewards club Yuu, followed by the public transport network MTR, global fast-food chain McDonald’s, local bank Hang Seng Bank, insurance provider AIA, local telco SmarTone, lifestyle app foodpanda, and insurance provider Manulife.

Other notable brands that made into the list include skincare brand Shiseido, luxury watch brand Rolex, fast food chain Kentucky, hotel chains Shangri-La and The Prudential, amongst others.

The ranking revealed the theme of ‘value-seeking’. Hong Kongers love bargains and like to feel that they’re ‘gaming the system’; this explains why so many brands offer great value or help consumers seek out the best deals. According to the research, the luxury market is still going strong, however, and doesn’t show any signs of slowing, with luxury businesses that build desire into their marketing. The love of luxury and good deals aren’t in opposition though – for Hong Kong consumers, it’s all about value.

One key contrast the report also uncovered was that of local versus international. Despite being shut off during the COVID-19 pandemic, Hong Kong is still an international hub with globally connected brands – five of the top 10 are Hong Kong brands, with HSBC taking the top spot. This strong local identity and heritage coupled with an international outlook and reach is a melting pot for creativity and effective design – with Hong Kong’s strongest brands representing both these values.

Hannah Duley, managing director at Design Bridge and Partners Hong Kong said, “Tomorrow’s world is placing more challenges on brands and their business, with harder-to-please consumer expectations and harder-to-predict market trends. But businesses that invest in their brands, especially in the age of disruption and volatility, still outperform in the market. It has proved that great brand design often comes with great brand results, both tangible and intangible. With the power of design, brands can give unity to every diverse aspect to form a compelling brand and create distinct meanings.”

Meanwhile, Jason Spencer, managing director at Kantar BrandZ, commented, “Hong Kong has always been seen as a land full of contradictions. This inaugural report reinforces this juxtaposition clearly as we see how dramatically different brands appear side by side in the rankings. With this in mind, pinpointing the DNA of a HK brand we found was a difficult task and in the end, we realised that it was a futile one as there is no one way to define what a Hong Kong brand truly is – they have dual utility and leverage the best of both worlds no matter the context.”

Manila, Philippines – Market research firm Kantar Media has been tapped by the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (Association of Philippine Broadcasters) to conduct a series of radio surveys to serve as the currency for radio audience measurement. This latest win represents the tenth consecutive year that Kantar Media has partnered with the KBP.

Through this year’s surveys, Kantar Media will quantify radio audience behaviour in 26 key cities nationwide, including key radio markets like Mega Manila, Metro Cebu and Metro Davao among others. 

With the establishment of the Kantar commissioned studies as currency, the KBP aims to establish a common trading currency among industry stakeholders not just for research and analytics, but also in negotiating and developing partnerships that reflect radio’s power as an advertising medium.

Commenting on today’s announcement, Jay Bautista, managing director of Kantar Media Philippines said, “As the KBP celebrates its 50th anniversary, Kantar Media is pleased to be appointed, once again, as the official audience measurement partner of the association. Over the last 10 years, the partnership with the KBP has provided the advertising industry with broader and deeper insights about the Filipino radio audience.”

Meanwhile, KBP President Ruperto Nicdao, Jr. and Chairman Herman Basbano underlined the importance of this partnership.

“Radio research is an invaluable tool for us to highlight the importance of the medium. The renewed vibrancy of advertising through radio was brought about by the regular conduct of surveys which provide guidance to media agencies and clients in deciding their media mix. We thank Kantar Media for this continued partnership,” they said.

KBP has tapped Kantar Media back in 2021 for the same radio surveys, with it previously scoping only 19 cities.

Singapore – Marketing data and analytics company Kantar has appointed Jane Ng and Paromeeta Mathur Banerjee as general managers of insights. Ng will be leading the team in Singapore, while Banerjee will be steering the Malaysia team.

In the new role, Ng will be bringing her 18 years of experience in the insights industry in Kantar Singapore and the Philippines, as well as with brandssuch as the Coca-Cola Company. She will also be developing brand and communication plans and strategic business plans for the company. 

Speaking on her appointment, Ng said, “I am delighted to lead the team and partner with world leading brands in Singapore and the region to develop data-driven marketing strategies and find growth opportunities.”

Meanwhile, Banerjee is expected to leverage her 20 years of experience in the insights industry across India and Malaysia. Prior to the new role, she was chief client officer for Kantar’s Insights division in Malaysia. 

She is also a well-known industry leader and is currently president of the Marketing Research Society of Malaysia (MRSM).

“I’m very excited to lead our team in Malaysia to help clients find new opportunities among changing consumer behaviours in the region. Whether it’s through current workflows or mining the wealth of data they already have through a different lens, this is a significant turning point for our region,” Banerjee commented. 

Katie McClintock, managing director for Southeast Asia at Kantar also shared her excitement over the new appointments.

“Jane’s and Paro’s leadership and experience will be crucial in fulfilling the ambition that we have for Kantar in the region as we set ourselves up for growth. I am so pleased to add two outstanding leaders to the SEA team in a dynamic region with enormous potential,” said McClintock.

Both Ng and Banerjee’s appointments are effective immediately.

Last February, Kantar Australia also appointed Straford Rodrigues as its head of media and marketing effectiveness and Lee Catlin as its senior director of customer experience.

USA – Advertising company Taboola, has revealed the results of an independent Multichannel Brand Impact study from Kantar, a data, insights, and consulting company. According to Kantar, video advertising in native environments outperforms social media for improving brand favourability and consideration, native video ads boost brand awareness by 26% as part of larger media mixes.

With more than half of marketers saying video is their most lucrative type of advertising, eMarketer forecasts that digital ad spending in the US will reach $270 billion by 2023.

The Kantar Multichannel Brand Impact study measured the effectiveness of video advertising within native environments against other environments, as it relates to helping reach brand impact goals. The study found that compared to social or video platforms, native video ads on the open web have a greater influence on brand consideration and favorability. When exposed to a native video ad, 59 percent of study participants showed brand favorability, as opposed to 50 percent on social platforms and 51 percent on video platforms.

It is also noted in the study that when incorporating native video ads on the open web into a marketing mix, brand recognition increased by 26%. Participants who saw native video advertising displayed a 33 percent top-of-mind awareness compared to just 14 percent of the control group. When native video ads were combined with social platform video ads, top-of-mind awareness rose to 49%.

Adam Singolda, CEO and founder of Taboola, said video ads continue to prove valuable to brands, especially as TV dollars are moving to digital.

“With industry estimates indicating that video advertising in the U.S. will reach nearly $50B this year, brands have a lot of opportunities to influence customers, as long as they’re choosing the right platforms and mix of platforms to relay their messages,” Singolda said.

Singolda added, “What the Kantar study and our client work spotlight is that native video ads on Taboola High Impact Placements (HIP) are an essential part of a successful media mix. We provide the editorial environments that people trust, on a massive scale, so brands can amplify their efforts with Taboola.”

Mumbai, India – Data insights Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) and consulting firm Kantar has released a new white paper explaining how mainstreaming positive gender portrayals has a positive impact on business.

In India, advertising is mainstream, all-pervasive, and plays a role in forming people’s collective psyche. With GenderNext, a study undertaken by the ASCI and Futurebrands it proves how progressive portrayals of gender in advertising benefit not only society but as well as on brands. 

GenderNext, a study undertaken by the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) and Futurebrands, looked at 600 ads across different categories and spoke to consumers across 10 cities. The study revealed that real women considered themselves more progressive than depictions in mainstream advertising. 

Menawhile, Kantar found that progressive portrayals of women result in advertising that is more effective. Data by Kantar showed that Indian advertisements that depicted progressive gender roles had a positive impact of as much as 32% in short-term product sales and improved a brand’s equity by a whopping 51%. These results and insights prove that progressive depictions of women can drive engagement with brands in a major way.

Kantar’s study, conducted in collaboration with the Unstereotype Alliance and based on the Unstereotype Metric (UM), assesses how consumers react to gender portrayals in brand advertising. According to the research, using progressive depictions can help firms achieve higher marketing ROI. Furthermore, positive gender roles are found to have an even greater impact on India than they do in other rising markets.

Meanwhile, the GenderNext survey found that the bulk of mainstream advertising continues to portray women in negative and non-aspirational ways. For marketing and advertising professionals to comprehend the intricacies of gender portrayal, the study suggests the ‘SEA’ framework and the 3S screener, as well as an inventory checklist for the examination of screenplays or films. This not only aids in the identification of implicit and regressive stereotypes but also provides a model for helping brands create more compelling and powerful advertising. The adoption of such frameworks is intended to give advertisers with a technique to boost their marketing ROIs.

Preeti Reddy, chairwoman for South Asia Insights Division at Kantar, said that mainstreaming positive gender portrayals is an exciting opportunity for creating engaging and impactful advertising. 

“While taking a firm stand against inequality is commendable, there is space to tell vibrant brand stories between the extreme ends of objectifying and deifying women. Without being preachy, subtle subversions on slice-of-life moments, gender roles and responses have the potential to make the viewing experience rewarding for consumers as well as to plant the seed of a fresh mental gender map,” Reddy said.

Reddy added, “Positive gender portrayal is not just about occasional tributes but also about a more conscious integration of progressive portrayal of genders in advertising. Such advertising holds the potential to deliver higher marketing RoI and to help create a more inclusive world.”

Manisha Kapoor, CEO & secretary general of ASCI, commented, “Advertisers can no longer afford to ignore the issue of progressive depictions of women. Women, particularly the younger generation, reject the implicit and explicit stereotyping that creeps into advertising. Women see progressive advertising as their ally in their journeys to more fulfilling lives. It is amply clear that it makes good business sense for brands to portray positive gender roles, adding real value to business and society.”

Sydney, Australia – Insights and consulting company Kantar in Australia has appointed two new senior leaders to strengthen its media, analytics, and customer experience capabilities. These new hires are Straford Rodrigues, the new head of media and marketing effectiveness, and Lee Catlin, the new senior director of customer experience. 

Rodrigues was previously the partner of Kantar Analytics Practice for Australia and APAC, and the partner of brand and marketing ROI practice for the USA. His global experience across the UK, US, Singapore, and Australia is underpinned by a unique combination of research, media and analytics. 

Meanwhile, Catlin was the former director of corporate reputation and customer experience at research firm Ipsos. She brings with her a wealth of experience as a strategic advisor for some of Australia’s well-known brands and Top 100 ASX companies. Her expertise in human-centred design and behavioural economics will help empower brands in facilitating deeper connections with their customers.

Commenting on his appointment, Rodrigues said, “I am here to drive media measurement and analytics innovation to meet our client’s evolving needs, connect disparate data sources to support clear business decision making for clients, and help them re-balance immediate sales performance with the long-term building of brand value.”

Lee also commented, “Kantar’s commitment and passion to people, and true hunger for growth and innovation makes me excited by what I can deliver. Kantar has an amazing client portfolio and I look forward to adding extra customer insight to their program to ensure the acceleration of client growth.”

Jon Foged, Kantar’s managing director of insights for ANZ, noted that they are committed to leading the market to ensure their clients accelerate growth through insights and human understanding powered by great thinking and exceptional technology.

He further shared that Rodrigues brings to Kantar a unique mix of media, analytics and team leadership experience, coupled with a proven track record of delivering commercial success.

“The addition of Lee Catlin coupled with our Head of CX Maree Taylor delivers a CX powerhouse to support clients to understand how their brand promise delivers to the customer experience and if the customer experience reflects the brand promise,” said Foged.

In June 2021, Kantar Australia has announced the appointment of Irene Joshy as the new head of creative for its Creative Domain division. Joshy will now resettle in Australia from her Singapore base.

Manila, Philippines – Among the three main industries of e-commerce, FMCG, and QSR in the Philippines, e-commerce registered the largest ad spend with US$52m for Q3 of this year. This is according to the latest study by data, insights, and consulting company Kantar.

This was followed by QSR in the country with US$6.4m, and FMCG with US$5.3m. 

Philippines brands’ average monthly ad spend was found to be $15b. 

In terms of what channels brands invest in the most, social display comes out on top with 44% of them spending their budgets on such, while desktop display came in second as a priority channel with 42%. A fraction of brands’ ad expenditure was directed towards desktop video (6%), mobile video (6%), and lastly, mobile display (2%). 

Meanwhile, social platform-wise, Facebook registered the lion’s share of overall ad spend by Filipino brands with US$616.1m. with Instagram as the second most popular platform with US$135.2m This was followed by Youtube (US$98m), and Twitter (US$9.9m). The study also showed the platforms that garnered the biggest impressions among audiences. Facebook still topped the ranks with 134.8 billion, followed by Instagram (40.5 billion), Youtube (14 billion), and Twitter (5.3 billion). 

The same study also revealed the ad spending and impressions of the leading news and lifestyle sites in the Philippines. News sites, such as GMA News Online, ABS-CBN News, Rappler, and Philstar, as well as Manila Bulletin, and Inquirer, have recorded US$12.3m ad spend and three billion impressions for the period, while lifestyle sites, namely PEP, Metro, ClickTheCity, Spot, and Preview, as well as Spin, and Cosmo, clocked in a total of US$1.1m ad spend for the quarter and with 239.2 million impressions overall. 

Kantar’s current Digital Advertising Intelligence was conducted during the period of July to September 2021.

Sydney, Australia – As pandemic woes globally are now starting to ease thanks to constant rollout of vaccination campaigns, a large chunk of Australian consumers, around 42% of them, believe that even non-health brands should play their part as well in promoting vaccination campaigns in their respective localities, new data from Kantar shows.

Despite the high percentage of consumers agreeing to heightened brand-centric vaccination campaigns, 74% of Australian consumers still believe that brands should not use the pandemic in exploiting others, while 54% of respondents say that they want brands to talk as they have always done, signaling the balance of brand communications and advocacy.

Such proximate affinity of these consumers to their brands of choice in the mid of the pandemic is rooted in the factor of locality, to which 76% of respondents choose to shop at local stores since it shows importance for the community. This trait has raised 12% since its last reading in April this year. In addition, 35% of respondents strongly suggest that convenience fares better than the price of a brand’s product or service.

Jonathan Sinton, chief commercial officer at Kantar Australia, said, “Homegrown is preferred with 37% continuing to pay attention to product origin, [which is] a marked increase to pre-pandemic preferences when origin was far less of a consideration. Additionally, almost two-thirds (63%) of Australians believe that environmental issues are more critical than ever (+6%) as we become more focused on purchasing sustainable products and brands right now.”

He also added that Australians are only decreasing sustainable behaviors that are against current pandemic rules, such as carpooling and keep cup usage, or where they have hygiene concerns or because it is simply inconvenient.

“Being a strong brand committed to provenance, value and sustainability is key to connecting with pandemic weary Australians in these uncertain times, but this must be communicated with authenticity,” Sinton added.

Adding to the sentiment of Australian consumers for brands engaging in vaccination campaigns is the fact that 66% of Australians want the majority of the population vaccinated to feel safe returning to daily life and 55% believe the country should keep the goal of zero cases of community transmission.

Manila, Philippines – Taking bold and creative risks pays off: this is one of the main mantras evident in the first-ever YouTube Works Awards in the Philippines, as it awarded the brand content, campaigns, and channels that stood out in effectiveness and creativity in 2020. 

The YouTube Works Awards are a staple instreaming platform YouTube which celebrates and champions the brilliant minds behind producing the most innovative and effective campaigns on the platform in the past year. This year, the awards finally landed in the Philippines, done in partnership with market research firm Kantar.

Despite being a year fraught with challenges, brands in the Philippines set the bar high on effectively using YouTube to deliver results and tell stories that resonate with local audiences. 

“As the pandemic changed life as we know it, the way we tell brand stories and engage audiences evolved too. YouTube Works Awards saw that despite the restrictions in creative production and reaching consumers, brands in the Philippines rose above the challenge and expanded the possibilities with YouTube to effectively drive results and tell stories that resonate with Filipinos,” said Gabby Roxas, head of marketing at Google Philippines.

This year’s top award went to local soft drink brand RC Cola, whose ‘Basta’ campaign made by independent creative agency GIGIL, was lauded for being brave enough to take creative risks and in making effective use of Gen Z’s surrealist humor. To date, the video has more than seven million views on YouTube.

For Roxas, RC Cola’s bizarre story of a family who served up the message of the value of embracing and enjoying one’s differences is consistent with the campaign’s approach: the pursuit to unapologetically stand out in a sea of formulaic content to achieve marketing and business objectives.

Meanwhile, Leigh Reyes, chair emeritus and product officer at MullenLowe TREYNA, and jury head at YouTube Works, commented, “At a tumultuous time when it would normally be considered unconventional to experiment, bravery in exploring the bold and the new pays off. advertising approach, tapping into absurdism to cut through repetitive and mundane lockdown content.”

Meanwhile, local telco Talk N’ Text or TNT won the ‘Best Multi-Video Storytelling’ award for their ‘Free Games for All’ series, which capitalized on Filipinos’ love for gaming mixed with hugot lines or heart-pulling one-liners to tell the story of four friends bonding over online games via a triad of spots. Driving a 165% increase in revenue versus the previous year, the campaign proved that YouTube viewers keep coming back for episodic content especially if it offers a compelling narrative.

For the ‘Best Brand Channel’ category, local beer brand Red Horse won the award, whose YouTube channel looked beyond product marketing to create content that its target market would watch and engage with especially over a bottle of beer: online concerts, variety show sketches, and entertainment-led videos. This then led the channel to see a growth in subscribers, from 26,000 in October 2019 to 54,000 in 2020, garnering 3.4 million views last year in total. The channel continues to grow, with a subscriber base that now stands at more than 87,000. 

Meanwhile, instant noodle brand Lucky Me! Pancit Canton won a ‘Best Collaboration’ award for its work alongside social media influencer Mimiyuuuh for the campaign ‘Pinakahihintay NaThin’, which puts a light-hearted spin for the brand’s comeback to its original thin noodles in production. With this, Lucky Me! saw a lift in purchase intent and brand favor, achieving a view-through rate (VTR) of 18%, higher than campaigns without creator collaborations. 

YouTube Works Awards also featured two heartfelt campaigns that show how brands with purpose can drive impact in times of uncertainty.

First on the list is consumer goods conglomerate Procter & Gamble, whose heart-warming campaign on the real, raw sacrifices of our frontliners while being away from their families to care for the sick won the brand a ‘Force For Good’ award.

Meanwhile, Globe Telecom’s ‘A Star Wars Experience For All’ campaign won the ‘Best Long Form Storytelling’ award for its heartwarming story about two young boys who created a special viewing experience for their deaf friend. The campaign shows the importance of inclusivity by representing and uplifting persons with accessibility challenges.

Gary de Ocampo, chief executive officer for insights division at Kantar Philippines, congratulated all the winners of YouTube Works, adding that their campaigns are truly inspiring and speak volumes about the future of advertising in the Philippines. He also noted that from taking bold, creative risks to playing meaningful roles amid the pandemic, the brands listed in the awards have effectively harnessed insights and stories to use YouTube in driving desired results.

“While there were many great campaigns this year, the Best Personalization award went unclaimed, nonetheless. This brings an opportunity for brands and agencies to challenge themselves further about contextual targeting and fully unlock this potential. I’m excited to see how they will take this challenge to bag the award next year,” de Ocampo concluded.